When Saccidānanda Śivābhinava Nṛsimha Bhāratī,[1] the 33rd pontiff of the Śāradā Matha of Sṛñgeri, discovered Kāladi in Kerala State as the birth-place of Śaṅkara,[2] he made all the arrangements to acquire the land and develop a monastic center there. It was his earnest desire that someone should take the responsibility of collecting all the works of Śaṅkara and bring them out in print.

This task was entrusted to T. K. Bālasubrahmaṇya Aiyar[3] who, with super-human efforts started the Vāṇivilāsa Press at Śrīraṅgam in A. D. 1904. After collecting thousands of manuscripts of Śankara’s works, he successfully brought out over the years, the entire series under the general title Śrī Sankara Granthāvalih. The books have been out of print for a long time. They have now been reprinted by the Samata books of Chennai.